Heather Moyse

Biography

Heather Moyse is a multi-sport athlete who has represented Canada internationally in bobsleigh, rugby and cycling. At Sochi 2014, Moyse won her second straight Olympic bobsleigh gold medal with pilot Kaillie Humphries, coming from behind in the final heat to become the first women’s bobsleigh team to successfully defend an Olympic title. At Vancouver 2010 they had been the first Canadian women to win Olympic bobsleigh gold, finishing first in each of the four heats while breaking the start record twice and the track record three times. That was Moyse’s second Olympic appearance after finishing fourth with Helen Upperton at Turin 2006, less than six months after she had been recruited to bobsleigh.

After both the 2006 and 2010 Winter Games, Moyse switched up her training to build her endurance. She went from needing six seconds of pure speed and power to push a bobsled to 80 minutes of running in rugby. Moyse went on to be the leading scorer of the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup. At the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup she tied for most tries scored in the tournament. But she also broke her right ankle in Canada’s final game of the tournament. As part of her rehab, Moyse began cycling and ended up earning a place on the Canadian team for the Pan American Track Cycling Championships in March 2012. In November 2012, she underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in her right hip. Despite not having played rugby since the 2010 World Cup, she was named to the Canadian team for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens and won a silver medal.

Moyse left bobsleigh behind after Sochi 2014, undergoing another hip surgery. But she was enticed back in the fall of 2017 by an email from pilot Alysia Rissling. She got back into training and re-joined the World Cup team in December. In January 2018, she pushed Rissling to a fourth-place finish in St. Moritz. The duo finished sixth at PyeongChang 2018.

A little more about Heather…

Getting into the Sport: Started in bobsleigh at age 27 when she was recruited from rugby and sprinting… Attended her first test camp in August 2005… Outside Interests: Earned her Masters degree in Occupational Therapy (MScOT) from the University of Toronto in 2007… Earned her BSc Hon in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo in 2000… Enjoys photography, reading and movies… Works as a motivational speaker… Affiliated with Right to Play and Camp Triumph, a camp for children who have family members with chronic illness or disability… In May 2011 travelled to Benin in West Africa with Right to Play… Odds and Ends: Favourite Olympic memory is looking into the crowd from the top of the Olympic podium and seeing her entire family wearing red and white striped top hats… Favourite mottos: Live to Inspire and Believe in the Possibilities…